View our Business Directory to connect with services that can help grow your business!
Building the knowledge and capacity of our winery and grower members is important to us. Working with our partners at Cornell, the American Wine Society, Eastern Winery Exposition, the U.S. Sustainable Winegrowing Summit, FLXcursion and others we aim to bring our members conference discounts on cutting edge education, keynote speakers and VIP experiences. Discounts typically range from 10% to 20% depending on the event.
With the complexities and new business realities of 2021, professional finance and tax tools for New York’s wineries and growers are needed now more than ever. NYWGF has partnered with Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co. LLP to assist our Winery & Grower Members with critical questions on tax planning, inventory accounting, general accounting, excise tax/TTB issues and sales tax. Tier 2 & 3 Members will have access to financial and tax guidance in webinar form, as well as through individual consulting for your specific needs provided by Anthony G. Sandonato, CPA/ABV, CVA, Esq. via a 60-minute individual consulting session. Click here to learn more and sign up for consulting services.
One-on-One Coaching with Sandra Hess & DTC Wine Workshops Consulting Agency
As a reminder, for NY Drinks NY participants, virtual workshops will be supplemented by an individual coaching session with a member of the DTC Consultant Network, led by Sandra Hess. Each winery will be provided with a 1.5 hour online coaching session to address a challenge or opportunity of their choice. Network consultants work to ensure your team uses the ideal blends of tools, talent and technologies to achieve direct to consumer wine sales success. NY Drinks NY participants can fill out THIS QUESTIONNAIRE to get started. PLEASE NOTE: The questionnaire is designed to help wineries identify areas the one-on-one coaching can be most beneficial.
An exclusive benefit for Tier 3 Winery Members only, custom 90-minute consulting sessions for leadership teams can be provided to you by the WISE Academy. Lesley Berglund, WISE Co-Founder and Chairman, and their team of experts are available for coaching and guidance on the following topics:
Services are available to current Tier 3 Winery Members, as well as any winery representative that attended one of the 2020 WISE Digital Mastery Series or DTC Metrics Intensive courses. Please contact Jennifer Warrington to schedule your appointment.
For several years, the New York Wine & Grape Foundation has conducted an exciting Export Program with funding support from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). The New York wines staff team, with the guidance of our Promotions Committee, Market Consultants, and Export Advisory Committee (made up of industry members) execute this program each year. The program year runs from July 1 – June 30.
The Export Program provides data, logistical resources, target market education, access to consultants in the field, and market activities like trade missions and large scale trade shows. The principal activities include “New York Wines” trade exhibits at major trade shows and consumer events; New York wine seminars with Master Sommeliers and key influencers in each market, publication of brochures and other literature; advertising and public relations; familiarization tours of New York’s wine regions for the press and trade; comprehensive educational resources such as the New York Wine Course & Reference, the Varietal Series; and meetings with key wine buyers.
The Vine Hotline: In order to help members tackle the complex issues of alcohol regulations and excise taxes, tax credits, tax preparation, grant applications, business planning, and more, New York Wine & Grape Foundation has partnered with our Business Associate Member Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co., LLP to provide you with a Members Only Help Desk. NYWGF Members can now submit their confidential questions online here. These will be answered each week by Anthony Sandonato and his team at Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co., LLP. The answers will be sent directly to you within 48 hours.
The Finger Lakes Grape Program is our members’ trusted source for research based knowledge. The Finger Lakes Grape Program works with experts from Cornell, Penn State, and the private and non-profit sectors to bring this kind of information to growers on topics such as: Business Management, IPM (Disease Management), Vine Nutrition & Soils and Cultural Practices (Pruning, Training & Trellises).
As New York wineries gain wider attention and praise, their products are sought nationally and even internationally. Importing countries may require a range of analytical tests before they will allow a wine to be and sold. The laboratory providing these tests must hold certain qualifications. As of January 2017, the Wine Analytical Lab, part of the Viticulture and Enology Program in the College of Agriculture and Life Science, has been approved through the TTB’s certified wine chemist program. The NYS Wine Analytical Laboratory provides affordable:
They offer over 25 different chemical, microbiological, and sensory analyses at our facility in the Department of Food Science at Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., for quality assurance, trouble shooting and federal regulatory compliance.
New York was among the first states to grow grapes and produce wine – a centuries–old tradition which serves as a foundation for today’s strong growth. This guide provides a comprehensive history, statistics, information on winemaking, viticulture, soils, viticultural areas, curriculum and much more.
Through December 2020, NY Drinks NY participants have access to a wide range of marketing services including hosted virtual events, an online shopping tool, inclusion in email, web, and social media advertising, as well as inclusion of independent winery events on the NYWGF online calendar. NY Drinks NY participants will also have access to capacity building resources such as virtual workshops and individual coaching sessions designed to address a critical challenge or opportunity of their choice. Click here for upcoming workshops. Please contact Jennifer Cooper to learn more and receive their Coaching Session Questionnaire to get the process started.
This program will begin accepting new participants in January 2020.
Since its creation in 1985, NYWGF has sponsored an ambitious and comprehensive program in close coordination with the industry and academia. As with the promotion program, private sector funding is required to leverage the state matching funds. NYWGF’s annual research budget is normally between $350,000-$500,000 to support dozens of individual projects, mostly conducted by Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.
Particularly in the case of viticulture, NYWGF’s research committee and Board of Directors solicit recommendations from the Lake Erie Regional Grape Research and Extension Program, an industry committee of processors who conduct a thorough review of all proposals submitted. Once NYWGF receives their recommendations, the Foundation’s research committee makes final allocations to individual projects.
Like the promotion program, the research program is enhancing NYWGF’s overall strategic goal: “To have the New York grape and wine industry recognized as a world leader in quality, productivity, and social responsibility.”
NYWGF welcomes wine trails as co-marketing partners. Each wine trail’s staff leadership (or board president where no paid staff exist) may take advantage of NYWGF’s Tier 2 Membership benefits at no charge. In return, we ask that the wine trail commit to co-marketing NYWGF basic & enhanced webinars, virtual seminars, and monthly virtual tasting series (when featuring your member wineries) to the appropriate audiences. Learn more about Tier 2 Membership here. More information to come soon, please contact Valerie Venezia-Ross with questions.
Known as “The Oscars®” of New York wine competitions, the competition takes great care to assemble a panel of more than 20 judges consisting of influential wine writers, wine educators, retailers, restaurateurs and experts from around the state and globe. The New York Wine Classic seeks judges have the experience and credentials to judge New York wines against the best of class wines they have tasted in that category from around the world. Winners are provided with a package of marketing materials, courtesy of the Foundation, press release and marketing language, as well as an awards presentation recognizing their achievement.
In an effort to gain more recognition for the high-quality wines produced in New York State, the Foundation typically provides wineries with subsidies for entry fees in certain national and international competitions. NYWGF will provide a 10% discount on select competitions throughout the year to all New York State entrants. Please check this page for updates, or sign up for our email newsletter.
One of the most valuable and timely benefits of membership is access to webinars and educational events. These virtual events give you access to experts on wine marketing, financial compliance, legal and tax issues, best-in-class business practices, design and trademarking, and much, much more.
Basic Webinars
These sessions are introductory in style and will provide a high-level overview of a topic.
Sessions will be recorded and provided to all winery members. NYWGF seeks to schedule 6-7 Basic Webinars from September 15th, 2020 through March 31st, 2020.
Advanced Webinars
For wineries in our new Tier 2 Membership Category, we seek to provide a more in-depth educational experience online.
Sessions will be recorded and provided to all Tier 2 winery members. NYWGF seeks to schedule 3-4 Advanced Webinars from September 15th, 2020 through March 31st, 2020.
Virtual Workshops
As of September 2020 NYWGF is providing virtual workshops designed to support NY Drinks NY participants and strengthen the program to achieve its collective, strategic objectives of building a robust online, educational, customer service driven, and sales focused community for New York wines and wine enthusiasts. Limited spots in these sessions may be provided to Tier 2 members only.
The Wine Market Council has provided wine market knowledge, trends, insights, and intelligence essential to all tiers of the wine industry for over two decades. They conduct a segmentation study among U.S. wine consumers annually, and also quantitative and qualitative trade and consumer surveys on topics of special interest to our members each year. New York Wine & Grape Foundation members will receive access to summaries of these reports as they become available.